Bank of Japan chief's sorry, but wants his job

TOKYO: Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui apologised on Thursday for the storm over his investment in a fund whose manager has been arrested for suspected insider trading, but said he wanted to stay in his job.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and cabinet ministers again voiced support for Fukui — one of Japan’s most highly respected central bankers in recent years — despite intense grilling by opposition lawmakers.

Fukui disclosed this week that he had invested about $87,000 in a fund set up by high profile fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami in 1999 while employed by a private think-tank, and that he had kept the investment when he became head of the BOJ in ‘03.

On Thursday, he said he also held shares in companies in which he had previously been an external director but that he was not trading in those shares, in line with BOJ regulations.

Fukui’s appearance in parliament — shortly after the BOJ board voted to keep interest rates at zero — was in response to opposition party demands to explain his links with Murakami. “I apologise deeply for causing a commotion,” Fukui told a panel.

“I will humbly accept the criticism, but I would like to continue serving as the governor,” Fukui said, adding the investment issue had not affected either his thinking or that of the BOJ board about monetary policy.